Managers’ motives for investing in HR practices and their implications for public service motivation: A theoretical perspective

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explain how approaches to human resource management may contribute to the development of public service motivation (PSM). Three different approaches to managing people are outlined, namely, the “high performance”, “high commitment” and “high involvement”. Relevant theories are then used to predict the outcomes and relevance of the different approaches when promoting PSM in public sector organisations.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a theoretical paper.

Findings

This paper provides the first theoretical explanations for the relationships between human resource (HR) practices and PSM in public sector organisations.

Originality/value

This paper explains how the same HR practices may have different employee outcomes depending on managers’ motivations for implementing them.

Citation

Gould-Williams, J.S. (2016), "Managers’ motives for investing in HR practices and their implications for public service motivation: A theoretical perspective", International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 37 No. 5, pp. 764-776. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-03-2016-0065